Answer: Yes!
Who says Kata = fight? Pilots fly planes. They also do a check of their instrument panels before take-off. They move their ailerons, rudders and elevators up and down several times to ensure they work. They don't spend an entire flight checking their instrument panel like a pre-flight check, nor do they constantly move the ailerons, rudder and elevator during a flight. However, they don't fly without the use of those instruments, and other devices. A Kata/Hyung is a simulation of a fight with some differences for training purposes. It does not match the performance of a fight exactly, but aspects of it are used throughout a fight when appropriate.
Push-ups are a training tool - - do they have anything to do with a real fight? Using a "gripper" to increase grip strength is a training tool - - does that have anything to do with a real fight? In the Army, we used "dummy grenades" as training tools - - do they have anything to do with real combat. Answer: Yes! They all improve skills that are used in combat.
Excellent point, but how many people have a partner 24/7 to repeat the techniques thousands of times. Reality is that you can duplicate the motions, repeat them hundreds of thousands of times, and ingrain the movements as a reflex without a partner, then adapt to real physical contact when you have a partner. In the Army, we didn't throw the live grenades every day, but we got very accurate at throwing the dummies while keeping ourselves concealed from enemy fire. All you have to do is exchange the dummy for a live grenade, and place an enemy at the receiving end of the throw.
Answer: Yes! Although they don't call them Kata, it is the same basic principle. Ever see a golfer step back from the ball and swing at the top of the blades of grass without actually hitting the ball. There is a mental and physical reason for that practice. Ever see a golfer on a driving range, or throw a bucket of balls around a green and practice chip shots all day, or hitting the cup on a putting green. These parts are not a real round of golf, but they are elements of the game - - skills needed to do well.
This one I got a chuckle out of. Myself (and others like me) are the ones that police and LEO come to for training. The PPCT and other such programs taught at academies were created by Martial Artist who use forms in their training. Most LEOs don't have the time to dedicate to full training, and their "Martial Art" skills are typically less than that of the Martial Artists they get their training from.
NO RULES!?! Gee....who'd-a ever thought that we could fight with no rules? I've heard this argument so many times, its amazing it is still floating around out there. What do you think real Martial Artists train to fight for. My tournament rules and classroom control is not for the street. My street-fighting training has no rules, and I know the difference. Why do people keep thinking that muggers, thieves, gang bangers, and street-fighters don't follow any rules, but us Martial Artists do? Do you think that we are like the British in 1776 - Wearing red and marching in a straight line into battle while the enemy wears dark colors and hides behind the rocks and the trees? (no offense to our British friends
)
). Oddly, for such an intense colour, red actually makes it very difficult for an enemy to count your numbers as a unit tends to become just a mass of scarlet at range - on of those 'Strange but true' moments. :lol:.
This is a complete left turn on the OP and I only pop it in here as it's an area of interest to me.
There are a couple of misconceptions about the 'intelligence' of the way we used to fight wars a couple of centuries back. Marching in line to firing range was the best to way to get the maximum firepower you could onto the target, especially considering the inaccuracy of un-rifled musketry.
The wearing of red uniforms also has a sensible rationale (and, no, it's not so the blood didn't show
I wont allow myself to get sidetracked into the history of the War of Independance as not only does it not belong here but I tend to start frothing at the mouth with indignation at the myth-mangling (is there no end to the subjects that cause me to do that?)
For those interested in the period, this looks like it could be a good book on the subject - does anyone have it to give a personal review before I buy it?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Independence-1774-1783-Essential-Histories/dp/1841763438
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